Australia begins ‘de-Rolfication’ after Harris sex conviction

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Harris could be stripped of his CBE and OBE titles tooLeon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Bernard LaganSydney

Last updated at 8:03PM, July 1 2014

Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister, said today he was “gutted and
dismayed” after Rolf Harris was convicted of being a predatory paedophile as
the country sought to effectively erase the entertainer’s legacy from his
homeland.

He said: “It’s a terrible, terrible business. I feel gutted and dismayed but
it’s very important that we do everything we humanly can to protect
vulnerable young people.”

“Sexual abuse is an utterly abhorrent crime... and it’s just sad and tragic
that this person, who was widely admired, seems to have been a perpetrator,”
Mr Abbott added.